Little Known Black History Fact: African-American Election History

This week’s Election Night resulted in a series of historic firsts across the nation. Most notable is that seven cities elected Black mayors for the first time and another city elected its first ever mayor.

Charlotte, North Carolina elected its first Black woman mayor in Vi Lyles. Adding to that tally is Statesboro, Georgia’s Jonathan McCollar, Cairo, Georgia’s Booker Gainor, Milledgeville, Georgia’s Mary Parham-Copelan, Georgetown, South Carolina’s Brendon Barber, Helena, Montana’s Wilmot Collins, and St. Paul Minnesota’s Melvin Carter were all elected to mayoral seats.

Also of note, Framingham, Massachusetts elected its first mayor ever in the city’s 317-year existence in Yvonne Spicer. And the cities of Cleveland, Ohio and Flint Michigan re-elected Frank G. Jackson and Karen Weaver respectively. This historical swing of votes took place 50 years after the election of Carl Stokes, the first Black mayor of a major American city.